Baena Olive and Olive Oil Museum

The Museum

The municipal Baena Olive and Olive Oil Museum is housed in an old two-storey mill with an exhibition area of over 800 sq. m. Located on the ground floor are the reception area, the museum shop, the olive mill, which has been reconstructed and is fully operational, the olive-oil "cellar", as well as an exhibition on the history of olive oil. Audiovisual material is presented in another room. The first floor hosts an exhibition on the diverse uses of olive oil: lighting, heating, electricity production, medicine, industry, art and, of course, cooking. In the "olive workshop", a separate room for educational activities, visitors may sample different types of olive oil.The museum also has an archive, a library and a hall for temporary exhibitions.Aim of the museum is to present the most important aspects of the history of the thousand-year-old olive culture. In this educational environment visitors are given the opportunity to live a unique experience, which triggers all five senses.The museum, which opened to the public in 1993, stands at the centre of Baena, in the midst of churches and palaces. It operated as an olive-pressing installation until 1959.Most of the exhibits date to the mid-19th century.